The family of a man who died after being fobbed off by health workers last night pleaded with NHS bosses to learn lessons from his death.

John Willock, 43, died from blood poisoning days after being told by NHS24 staff to take indigestion remedy Gaviscon after he complained of being in severe pain.

He had tried to hide sickness and diarrhoea symptoms from his partner Carolann Rogers and family but died on December 29, 2009.

A sheriff’s report said the dad of two, from Erskine in Renfrewshire, had been failed by a series of mistakes.

It found a “number of concerns and shortcomings” in the way the training engineer’s appeals for help were dealt with by NHS24 call handlers and nurses.

In the findings, an infectious diseases expert said John had a 60 to 85 per cent chance of survival chance if he had been seen in hospital on December 27 – the day after he first admitted he was ill.

An inquiry into his death heard that nurse Fiona McCulloch marked the wrong boxes on her diagnostic screen when John called.

If she had ticked one marked “persistent upper abdominal discomfort”, an ambulance would have been sent.

She also told John to take Gaviscon and cold milk.

He was visited at home on the day he died by his GP, Dr Murray Macpherson. But the medic decided John was not ill enough for hospital.

In his findings, Sheriff Colin Pettigrew said he could find no reasonable precautions that may have prevented John’s death.

Last night, his family said: “The findings support the family view that there were significant failings on the part of call handlers and nurse advisers involved in John’s care.

“While there has been evidence of improvements since his death, the family hope that NHS24 further review their practices as suggested by the sheriff so that lessons are learned.”

NHS24 medical director Professor George Crooks responded: “Following this case and investigations carried out into NHS24’s role, all staff involved at that time have been subject to robust review of their practice and appropriate training and support was put in place.

“We have made several improvements to our systems and processes since this case to further safeguard patients.”